


Third Eye in Pure Waters

by FinnKaenbyou



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2011-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 02:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FinnKaenbyou/pseuds/FinnKaenbyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rare whim leads Satori Komeiji to the surface world, in an attempt to tap into her sister's impulsive nature. As a result, she runs into a local youkai who might end up being just what she needs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello to AO3. Roukanken here, just throwing up something I put together a few years back since a friend offered me an invite. I've given it a little spit and polish to make up for what I've learned in the time since then, so hopefully it's not completely worthless.
> 
> NOTE: Given that the main viewpoint character here is Satori, it's necessary to display the thoughts of others. Hence, the thoughts of other characters will be displayed in quotation marks and italics.

Getting out of the Palace unseen was easier than she had expected. Orin and Utsuho were sound asleep when she'd made her move, and Koishi was nowhere to be seen as usual. The rest of the underground had been more than keen to act as though she wasn't there, so she reached the surface without a hitch.

 _Just as well - they would be worried sick if they found out what I was doing._

The Mountain of Youkai was only a small walk away, and Satori made the trip alone. It was an unusually quiet journey, because not only was there nothing to hear there was no-one to hear. A chance to have some time to herself without other people's thoughts flooding her mind wasn't something that Satori was used to.

 _This must be how Koishi feels all the time._

She sighed as her sister's name came up in her memories. Always running around and doing whatever she felt like - it was something that Satori had never felt. She'd figured that the best way to understand her sister was to take a few steps in her shoes.

Her destination approached, a pristine lake at the foot of the mountain. She'd seen smaller lakes underground, but none had ever had water this clean or enticing. There was probably more living in the water here than anything she had seen back home.

 _I have it all to myself, as well._

Satori began to undress, carefully sliding her clothing around the wires of her third eye. Beneath it, she had put on a dark blue outfit the kappa called a 'swimsuit' - it was easy enough to buy from from a engineer looking to make a quick profit.. She sat at the lake's edge, testing the water with her feet. Cold, but bearable.

It was a thought that had sprung to her head from nowhere a short time ago - 'I wonder what swimming feels like'. She'd clung onto the idea insistently, one of her few random urges, and over the last few days she'd been making plans to sneak out for a night like this. She'd never tried it before, but she didn't understand what could be so difficult about it.

Orin would be having a fit right about now if she knew where Satori was - insistent that it was too dangerous or reckless or something like that. It would have been a funny sight, almost a role reversal given their usual antics, but if she had found out there was no way she would have let Satori away with it.

"...Okay, then. Here I go."

She took a single deep breath as she pushed herself lightly into the water, making a small, quiet splash. This was Satori Komeiji's first swimming lesson, and she'd literally thrown herself in at the deep end.

\---

Satori instinctively closed her eyes as she hit the water, taking a few seconds to get accustomed to the new surroundings. Her third eye was unaffected, as receptive as ever and already picking up murmurs from the nearby fish.

 _...There're all coming towards me. Does this usually happen?_

True, a land-dweller jumping into your lake would probably attract your interest if you were a fish, but every living thing in the lake seemed to be interested in her. The wave of thoughts hit Satori hard, and she had to focus to pick out anything in particular.

 _"Another one of those eye thingies. Did the other girl have hers open?"_

 _  
_Satori blinked._   
_

_Other girl? Do they mean...Koishi?_

The same thoughts were coming from more or less all of them, watching her curiously as she sank deeper into the lake. Unsure if she was meant to keep up appearances, Satori waved lightly to the crowd with a small grin. The fish turned to each other, murmuring about the sight.  
 _  
"What's going on over here? Lemme see!"_

One voice rose from behind the crowd, louder than the ones around it. The smaller fish dispersed immediately, letting the complaining creature take a look at Satori. Satori looked back, tilting her head. She had a good idea of what a fish looked like, but this creature didn't quite qualify. It had a long, slightly curved body, with one fin coming out of its back and another on its tail. It was a dark shade of grey, but along its underside it was noticably lighter.

The creature began to circle Satori, a hint of playful curiosity in its eyes. Satori squirmed about, feeling vaguely like a piece of art on exhibition. __

 _"She really looks a lot like Koishi...actually, didn't she say that she had a sister?"_

That was enough to catch Satori's attention. When she'd been planning to try and copy Koishi, she hadn't meant to do it _literally_. Maybe she could have some sort of conversation with this creature-

"Blub?"

A single bubble rising from her lips pulled Satori's attention away. She hadn't realised it, but she'd been under for longer than she'd thought. Her lungs were getting impatient, so she made for the surface. It was at that point she quickly discovered that swimming really wasn't as easy as she'd thought it would be, as her shoddy kicking and flailing only led her to sink further down.

 _This is bad..._

In retrospect, this had been a bad idea, and as Satori put a hand over her mouth she began to suspect it would be her last. Fortunately, the large fish-thing seemed to be aware of her plight.

 _"And Koishi didn't know how to swim, either. Must run in the family."_

It stopped circling Satori, swimming in front and turning its back towards her. __

 _"Hang on!"_

Well aware that it was trying to help her out of the water, Satori clung onto the creature with both hands and focused on not letting any more air loose. Despite the extra weight the creature made it to the surface with ease, and Satori caught her breath as it moved towards the edge of the lake. She pulled herself up, lying down and taking a moment to chastise herself for her lack of a survival instinct.

"What sort of idiot throws herself into a lake without any idea what she's doing?" She muttered to herself.

"Beats me. But if it's any consolation, you aren't the first."

Satori flinched. She hadn't been expecting anyone to answer that. The voice was the same one she'd heard in that creature's thoughts, too.

 _So now it's a talking giant fish thing?_

Turning back to the lake, Satori did a double-take as she realised the creature that had saved her was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a young girl's head was poking out of the water, her long silver hair drifting along the lake's surface.

Satori groaned.

 _Correction. A talking giant fish thing youkai. ...Actually, for Gensokyo, that actually doesn't sound all that unusual._

 _\-----_

The youkai hauled herself out of the water with her newfound arms. As she pulled herself up Satori was able to see that she was wearing a pale blue shirt with bubble emblems running down the sleeves, and a light grey skirt which dripped onto the ground beneath her. Around her waist were a pair of vials - one filled with water, the other with salt.

None of that caught Satori's eye quite as strongly as the large grey fin coming out of the girl's back.

"Why do people keep jumping into my lakes in the middle of the night, anyway? Dolphins need to sleep a little too..."

She stretched her arms, yawning slightly as she sat down next to Satori. She pouted, rubbing her eyes to keep herself awake. Satori was hit by pangs of guilt as she realised she'd woken her up. __

"My apologies," Satori offered, quickly regaining her composure. "I never took the time to consider someone might be sleeping there."

"Yeah, neither did the last one. You two look a lot alike, actually."

The dolphin turned to Satori again, examining her more thoroughly than she had underwater. Her attention was drawn to the eye on Satori's chest, and she stared into it with her own dark blue eyes. Satori could tell from her expression that this wasn't her first time seeing one of these.

"Hey, have you ever met-"

"You wouldn't happen to know-"

Their questions overlapped, and both girls cut themselves short to allow the other to finish. Satori felt no need to complete her sentence - she already knew full well what was going on. The dolphin, on the other hand, seemed amazed by what she'd come across.

"You mean...you actually know Koishi? You're her sister, aren't you? She's told you about me, right?"

Satori was tempted to look into her heart and just recite what she saw there, but that felt too much like a lie. She shook her head.

"Not really. Koishi and I don't see much of each other."

The dolphin hung her head in disappointment.

"Aw...looks like the work of Sango Tororetsu is gonna go unheeded again..."

"Sango...Tororetsu?"

The youkai looked up, seeing an opportunity to sell herself. Satori noticed a glint of ambition in her eyes.

"Yeah, that's me! See these sparkling rivers and lakes you take for granted? They don't keep themselves clean, y'know!"

Sango stood up, grabbing the water-filled vial at her waist. She opened it, and allowed a single drop to fall into the lake. There was a tiny ripple where the droplet hit the water, but otherwise there was no obvious change.

"And just like that, BAM!" Sango flared her arms outwards for emphasis. "Anything toxic or dirty in the water goes poof! I can turn it to saltwater, too, if I use the other one."

It was certainly a decent pitch, but as Satori looked into the water she found it difficult to believe.

"It looks...exactly the same as it did before," she noted, raising an eyebrow.

Sango looked down at her, unsure of what the problem was. "Of course it does. I clean it all the time."

Apparently Sango wasn't aware that her statement effectively proved itself. Unable to sense any deception in her heart, though, Satori took her word for it.

"Aaaanyway, you're really Koishi's sister?" Sango said, quickly becoming excited. "The one who can read minds and stuff?"

Unsure if this was meant as a compliment, Satori nodded cautiously.

"That's me, yes. Satori Komeiji. Pleased to meet you."

Satori put her hand out to shake, but Sango ignored it. She was back to staring at the third eye, moving her head slightly and watching it follow her movements.

"So, wait. What am I thinking right now?" the dolphin asked, skepticism drifting into her voice.

"That there's no way I'll ever be able to guess what you're thinking."

Sango stepped back in awe, almost falling into the lake. She applauded wildly.

"Wow! You really are as good as she said you were!"

Satori didn't have the heart to say that she wasn't trying that time, and that she had guessed that based on a hunch. For all her ambition and excitement, this girl was pretty simple in the head.

"But still, that was kind of a dumb thing you did there. Jumping into a lake when you don't even know how to swim...are you a family of maniacs or something?"

And as soon as she had concluded the girl was simple, she found herself getting criticised by her. To be fair, she was doing so on pretty solid grounds.

"I'm willing to accept that it was a poor judgement, yes. In my defense, it was exactly the sort of poor judgement Koishi would have made, and that was the point. I won't bother you any more with it, so I'll just be on my way..."

Sango sighed dramatically, holding her head in her hands in false embarrassment.

"Geez, I can't just sit here and let you go like this. What if you throw yourself into another lake and no-one's around to help you?"

She took a step forward and fell back into the water. Satori watched as she surfaced, still in human form, and raised a hand towards her.

"I'll teach you everything I know, free of charge. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

Satori didn't realise how nervous the thought of going back into the water made her until she stepped towards the lake. She lowered herself in slowly, letting Sango hold her above the surface. The dolphin looked a few years her senior, though Satori was much older than she looked. She looked into the dolphin's heart, finding that her desire to help was as genuine as could be hoped for.

"...You have my thanks," Satori sighed with relief.

"No problem," Sango answered, with a playful grin. "Just tell Koishi she owes me double next time she sees me, okay?"

\-----

"Okay, when you're treading water you want to keep your legs kicking all the time. Keep up a good rhythm, swing your arms and keep taking deep breaths."

As simple as she was elsewhere, when it came to swimming Sango knew what she was talking about. She started off slowly by teaching Satori how to keep her head above water, staying close in case something went wrong. Satori took in Sango's training with full focus, and in a matter of minutes she was treading water unassisted.

"Wow, you pick up fast! Koishi-chan never told me you were such a quick learner!"

Sango offered another round of applause, unaware that Satori wasn't just learning from being told. Beneath the waves her third eye was staring straight at Sango's heart, looking deep into a memory from some time ago.

 _"Calm down, dammit! Stop splashing so much!"_

Again it was Sango working as a swimming tutor, but this time her pupil was somewhat less cooperative. In fact, she was practically doing whatever she felt like.

 _Koishi..._

Of course, she dipped beneath the water more than a few times, and Sango basically had to ram it into her head before Koishi starting doing it right. Satori simply copied what she saw, and avoided all the unnecessary complications that her sister had gone through.

"...I'm sure it's because you're such a good teacher."

A lie, but one with good intentions. Sango fell for it whole-heartedly, patting herself on the back.

"Of course it is! I've never had a pupil drown on me yet!"

 _But you've only had two pupils...and is not drowning really something to be proud about?_

Next Satori was taught how to kick properly, Sango holding her arms as she lay face-down. It was more difficult than treading water, and out of guilt Satori insisted on doing this one herself without copying Koishi.

"So you and Koishi get on well?"

Satori asked the question as she rose to take a breath, listening to Sango's answer as she went under again.

"We sure do! She still shows up every so often and goes for a little swim with me. Never have any idea when she's going to show up, though. And keep your back straight, okay?"

Satori lifted her head again. "That's Koishi for you. She does what she wants, when she wants to."

As she dipped her head back into the water, Satori was noticed that all the little fish from earlier were still watching her. She took a quick glance into some of their hearts out of curiosity.

 _"Is she gonna be like the last one and start prodding everything?"_

 _"Hope she doesn't try taking someone home for a souvenir like the other one did."_

They didn't seem too impressed by Koishi's antics, and they probably expected the same from her.

"Well, yeah, she does kinda do what she feels like, but that's one of the things I really like about her. She isn't scared about what other people think, she just goes her own way. I like people who are that confident, you know?"

Satori silently thought the point over. Did it qualify as confidence if Koishi honestly wasn't thinking about the consequences?

"...Um, are you okay? You can take a breath any time you want."

Satori jerked her head back up, knocked out of her internal debate by Sango.

"S-sorry. Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure thing. Shoot."

"Koishi..." Satori had to force the question out, the works jamming in her throat for a moment. "The last time you saw her, did she seem happy to you?"

Sango didn't even need a moment to think it over. She nodded.

"Definitely. Never seen a person as happy-go-lucky in my life. Then again, we don't really get many visitors around here..."

Satori sighed, a smile running across her face. If Koishi was happy, that was all that really mattered to her. Sango didn't seem aware just how much a simple statement like that actually meant.

"That's good to know. Thanks."

"Hey, don't mention it. And try not to splash so much when you're kicking, okay?"

\---

In the space of an hour Satori was confident enough to start swimming on her own, thanks to a combination of Sango's thorough tutoring and occasionally using her heart as a crib sheet. She did a quick length of the lake as a final test, Sango trailing along as a makeshift lifeguard.

 _Almost there..._

Satori placed a hand on the other side of the lake, panting lightly. It had been tiring, but at the same time it was surprisingly fun. She had never been the sort to exercise, but swimming had a wonderful way of distracting her third eye. It turned off the stream of thoughts around her, and gave her a chance to be alone in her own mind.

Sango applauded as she caught up.

"Amazing! Koishi was here all night figuring it out, but you got it down so fast!"

As bad as the original idea may have been, Satori was glad that she'd done this. She really felt like she'd achieved something here, and she had managed to find out a little about Koishi while she was at it.

"I suppose I have an excellent teacher to thank for it."

Sango's face beamed, pride seeping out everywhere it could as she blushed furiously.

"Aw, you're too kind..."

The girls shared a small giggle as they congratulated each other.

"So...feel like going for a real swim?" Sango asked. She dipped beneath the water, surfacing again in dolphin form. She turned her back to Satori, beckoning her to place her hand there.

"I'd be honoured," Satori answered. She rested her hand lightly on Sango's back, taking a few deep breaths to prepare herself. Then, on a silent cue, the pair dove beneath the water together.

Without the impending fear of drowning, Satori was finally able to appreciate the beauty of the scenery beneath the surface. Sango certainly did her job pretty well, from the looks of things.

 _"She seems a lot calmer than the first one, actually..."_

She overheard one of the fish thinking about her, no longer worried about her being the next Koishi. She took it as a compliment as she swam along with Sango, who'd deliberately slowed down so that her pupil could keep up. It was relaxing, but exciting at the same time.

Then Sango decided to be a little adventurous.

 _"Can't catch me!"_

The dolphin burst away, waiting at a distant edge of the lake for her student to catch up. Only the fact that Satori was underwater stopped her from chuckling at Sango's antics.

 _Come on, I'm only a beginner..._

Satori started to kick a little harder, compelled to make the whole journey on one breath. It wasn't that far, so there wouldn't be any problem-

"Mm?"

Something moved in the corner of her eye. For a moment she thought it was Sango from the fin, but she could still see the dolphin in front of her. And besides, this fin seemed sharper, less like a dolphin's and more like-

 _"What the heck is a shark doing here?! They're meant to be sticking to the lakes on the other side of the mountain!"_

Satori heard the thought leap out of Sango's heart, and it was the only cue she needed to start swimming away from it. The shark rose above her, blocking her path to the surface, looking down on her with empty black eyes. All that ran through its mind was a relentless desire to eat Satori alive.

 _ _Obviously, Satori disapproved, but d__ espite her best efforts she couldn't outrun the thing. It continued to hover over her, still watching with its dead eyes. Sango began to dash back across the lake, her mind racing as quickly as her pulse.

 _"Stay away from my student! I've got a no-fatality policy, pal!"_

Sango made to ram into the shark, but something hit her first. She let off a small cry of pain, and as she turned towards her aggressor Satori could see the fear rising in her eyes.

 _"T-Two of them...?!"_

Sango wasn't getting anywhere fast now that one of the sharks was focused on her. That left Satori on her own to deal with a creature she had no way of fighting. She hadn't brought so much as a spellcard with her, thinking that no-one would be awake to attack her at this hour. She marked that down as the second fatal error she'd made today. Then again, she doubted animals played by the spellcard rules.

"Mmbl-!"

The first few bubbles forced their way out of her mouth as she kept trying to swerve around the shark pinning her down. She had no more success this time than she'd had previously. Desperately she looked to Sango for some form of assistance.

Much to her surprise, the dolphin had reached into her skirt and pulled out a small slip of paper. __

 _"As the dark waters are made pure, strike down my enemies with what remains!"_

The card's incantation ran through Sango's head, her environment obviously making it impossible for her to speak it out loud. The card shone brighter with every word, until at last Sango declared its name. ** __**

 **  
_"Cleansing Sign [Purified Greywater]!"_   
**

A wave of pale grey bullets appeared in the water in front of Sango, humming slightly. Her shark saw it as an attack, and charged at her in an attempt to cut it short.

 _"Gotcha~"_

She clicked her fingers, and each bullet split clean into two. Flying away from the shark were a series of bright blue bullets, and coming towards it was a barrage of black ones. The bullets charged forward, too quickly for it to dodge, and a pair of them caught it straight in the eyes. It fell backwards, hanging upside-down in the water - unconscious, thanks to a spellcard's inability to deliver fatal injuries.

The shark keeping Satori from the surface turned on the spot, looking towards the dolphin who had just knocked out its companion. It charged for her, giving Satori the opening she needed to take a breath. She looked up to the surface, tantalisingly close, then down towards Sango.

The dolphin didn't seem to have any other defense, and as the shark charged her it was all she could do to hold the creature's mouth open.

 _"Ggh...dammit!"_

Satori grimaced. It didn't look like Sango was going to last more than a few seconds holding the shark off. If she broke to the surface for a breath, would Sango still be around when she came down?

On the spot, she decided to ignore the growing pain in her chest. She'd already made two mistakes that should have killed her today. One more wouldn't hurt.

 _Time for her to see what I can really do._

The eye on her chest opened wide, staring intently at Sango. She focused her mind on the one memory that she needed, a card taking form in her hand.

 _...As the dirty waters are made pure, strike down my enemy with what remains._

The card was completed, and let off a faint glow as its power followed suit. Satori remained locked in focus, raising the card above her head and letting its name ring through her head.

 _ **Cleansing Sign [Purified Greywater]**!_

The card Satori produced was a poor imitation, consisting of maybe half the bullets Sango's had, but in a situation like this it was the best that she could hope for. Given that the shark was still unaware of what was going on behind it, it was also all she needed.

She clicked her fingers.

Another wave of black bullets appeared, flying towards the shark with as much force as Sango's. It only had enough time to turn around, bewildered, before the attack smacked against it. It flipped in the water, drifting next to its counterpart.

Sango blinked once, twice, looking in Satori's direction.

 _"Wha...did she just...?"_

The need to breathe convinced Satori that now was a good time to break for the surface. As she rose up, however, she made sure to give Sango a proud, hefty grin.

 _Consider that payment for your tutoring._

\-----

"Masteeeeeer!"

Orin's shout echoed across the plain unanswered. The trail was a few hours old, but there was just enough left for her to follow.

"But where would she go in the middle of the night? This is the sort of thing that Master Koishi would do..."

She found herself coming up to a lake, the trail coming to an end. Two voices spoke in the distance, and she quickly hid behind a rock to listen in.

"...So, I can just drop by any time?" Orin's ears perked up. That was her master's voice, without a doubt. The person she was talking to, though, she didn't recognise.

"Sure. I'm figuring last night will have taught those sharks not to step outta their territory, so you don't need to worry about getting eaten next time."

Orin had no idea what sort of conversation she'd walked in on, but apparently it was almost finished. She decided to let them finish and catch Satori on the way out.

"Oh, and...if you see Koishi-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll say you were looking for her. Don't worry about it."

"Alright. ...Thanks again."

As their talk concluded Orin heard someone coming closer, recognising her master's light steps. She hung around a corner and turned in false surprise.

"Oh, Master! I was wondering where you'd go-"

Orin's words died in her throat. Satori had changed clothes recently, and her shirt was folded upwards slightly. Beneath it, Orin could make out some sort of dark blue fabric she didn't recognise. Now she was even more curious as to where her master had been.

"Ah, Orin. Your timing is excellent." Satori smiled at her pet's appearance, before clamping one hand around her wrist and tugging her away.

"H-Hey, what're you doing!?" Orin yelled in protest. " **I'm** the one who's meant to be leading **you** home!"

"Oh, we'll go home, certainly," Satori answered, sounding as old as she looked rather than as old as she was. "But let's take a quick stop at one of those little kappa houses first."

Orin had lost all hope of knowing what was going on now, squirming as Satori continued to pull her along.

"B-But Master, what would we want to visit a kappa for?"

"So I can buy you and Utsuho something to wear for your swimming lessons."

Silence.

"...Sorry, did I hear that wrong? I thought you said that you wanted to teach me how to-"

"Swim? Yes, that's exactly what I said."

It took Orin a few seconds to recover from this statement. What she lacked in speed, she made up for in energy.

"You're kidding, right!? Why would I even need to swim? I don't need to do it anytime normally, and I really don't like water, so-"

"You're fine with taking baths, aren't you?" Satori asked, a sly grin rising to her face. "And I'll let Okuu learn along with you. If I can't teach you, I know an excellent tutor."

"I take baths because I need to! And Okuu's gonna hate this just as much - she's a bird, for crying out loud!"

Nothing was going to stop Satori from dragging her along, though, and eventually Orin just gave up on trying. She walked along, tails tied in a knot behind her, doing everything she could to make her disapproval obvious.

"And why do you even want me to learn to swim, anyway?"

Satori turned to her with a brilliant smile.

"Oh, just call it a random idea that came to me."


	2. Chapter 2

Time had not made Orin much more co-operative. She followed Satori's orders solely because she was her master, but every step towards the surface made her more and more reluctant.

"Nyaa...Master, you can still change your mind..."

Satori paid her no mind, in the same way she'd paid no attention to any of her previous complaints. The only reason Orin hadn't given up was that she couldn't think of any other way to get Satori to call the trip off. She turned to her companion, looking for any sort of support.

"...Seriously, Okuu, are you okay with this?"

Utsuho turned to her, tilting her head with a completely blank look on her face.

"What is there to be worried about, Orin? Master Satori isn't mean. If she says we'll enjoy it, we'll probably enjoy it."

And that was all she had to say on the matter, running ahead to catch up with Satori and make it there faster. Orin felt vaguely like she'd been stabbed in the back as the trio came to a stop, standing at the edge of the lake where she'd found her master a few days ago.

"Alright, you two," Satori said as she turned around, clapping her hands together. "Let's see how those look on you."

Utsuho nodded eagerly, almost tearing at her shirt as she pulled it off, revealing the jet-black one-piece she was wearing underneath. A small slit had been cut out of the chest area, giving the red eye there room to stick out. In comparison, Orin seemed outright afraid as she stripped, taking off her long green dress and showing the simple light-green bikini beneath it. It had taken Satori some time to convince her to try it on, but she eventually managed to get a murmur of acceptance out of the cat.

"We look really stupid in these..." Orin muttered. She felt her face burning up as she spoke, her hands covering her chest. If she were being honest with herself, she'd have probably said that she quite liked the outfit, and that Utsuho looked good in hers as well. She was too busy disagreeing with the whole idea to be honest about it, though.

Utsuho had no such trouble, looking down on herself with pride. Satori, in the same dark blue swimsuit she had been wearing last time, walked over to the edge of the lake.

"Here, let me show you how it's done."

Satori dove headfirst into the water, sliding under and reappearing a few moments later. The whole thing was amazingly graceful - for a moment, Orin wondered if her master had been taking frequent trips to the surface behind her back.

"See? Nothing to worry about."

She swam towards the centre of the lake with an efficient front crawl, repeating what she'd been taught flawlessly. Orin looked on, surprised, while Utsuho started clapping her hand against the control rod on her other arm.

"Wow, wow! Master Satori is amazing!"

Orin's eyes were locked on the rod still attached to Utsuho's arm. She grabbed at it, twirled it about, and quickly disconnected it from her arm.

"Unyu?" Utsuho twirled around towards her, grabbing the rod as it fell into her hands. Orin's answer was blunt.

"How do you expect to float with all this crap weighing you down, Okuu? You're such an idiot sometimes."

That was probably a poor choice of words, Orin told herself. Utsuho frowned, her expression quickly growing indignant.

"I-I was about to do that. Anyway, I'm ready now, so let's go!"

She turned around, looking towards the water, taking a step forward. By the time Orin realised what she was trying to do, it was too late.

"Okuu-"

She reached out to grab at the raven's arm, but missed by inches. Utsuho made a massive splash as she sank into the water, but never came close to surfacing.

She hadn't taken off the concrete block around her leg, either. She wore it as part of her job tending to the Blazing Fires, but it made the idea of swimming completely impossible. Orin had 'conveniently forgotten' to mention it, hoping it would convince Satori to call the whole thing off, but she hadn't expected Utsuho to forget about it herself.

By this point, Satori was starting on the journey back. She looked up, confusion lining her face.

"Where'd Utsuho go?"

Orin couldn't find the words, feeling her heart leaping in her chest. It was all she could do to point downwards into the water.

Down towards the bubbles slowly coming towards the surface.

 **Blub. Blub, blub...**

\-----

"Blub. Blub, blub?"

This wasn't what was supposed to happen. She'd jumped into the water just like Master Satori had, but instead of floating back up she was just sinking. Had she done something wrong?

 **Clong.**

Her leg hit the bottom of the lake first, pulling the rest of her body down with it. She was vaguely aware that maybe it would have been a good idea to start at the other edge. She made a little jump, managing to rise an inch or three above the water before sinking back down again.

 _That's probably not a good thing._

Unable to do much to get herself out, Utsuho looked towards the water instead. It was pristine, fish of all different colours making their way through them. A few stragglers from a nearby school swam up to her, looking her in the eyes. She reached out to touch one, so she could softly run her fingers across it-

 **Smack.**

 _Oops, wrong hand._

She hadn't let go of the control rod, and she smacked the fish in the face with it as she came around. Its friends took the hint and darted away, leaving the raven by herself.

"Unyu..."

She gurgled out a little groan, taking a few steps to try and find another set of fish to examine. She made a mental note to be a little more careful this time-

 **Tap, tap.**

A poke on her shoulder. Utsuho turned around, seeing a desperate-looking Satori pointing upwards.

That was enough to remind her of something that should really have been obvious.

 _...Oh, crap! I need to breathe!_

Utsuho tried to jump upwards, flailing with her arms and legs. She sank back downwards quickly, her only reward being tired limbs. Satori wrapped her arms around her and tried to lift her to the surface, but she was even weaker physically than Utsuho was, so she achieved about as much.

"Blub..."

Utsuho gave a nervous gurgle, already feeling her cheeks puff up. Satori, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere alone, rose back to the surface and called on aid.

"Sango! Where are you!?"

 _Sango?_

The name rang a bell in Utsuho's small brain. She remembered Satori-sama mentioning some sort of 'doll fin' youkai she'd met here that went by that name.

 _But...what's that fish thing swimming next to her? It doesn't look like a doll._

"Sango, one of my pets is down there! I need your help lifting her up!"

The fish thing nodded, phasing into a humanoid form. Apparently this was the girl Sango who Master Satori had befriended after all.

"Wow...that's a pretty lifelike doll. How did she do it?"

Utsuho muttered to herself, unable to keep thoughts like that in her head. She pondered the question, wondering if it was magic or -

 _...Wait. What did I just do?_

Looking up at the newly formed stream of bubbles, Utsuho realised that her little monologue had just spent the last of her air.

"Craaaaap!"

She didn't have anything left in her lungs to shout with, but sound came out anyway. For some reason her body didn't seem to care about the air, just letting it go without a care in the world. Wasn't there meant to be some sort of reflex to stop that!?

Satori and Sango dove down with lightning speed, afraid that Utsuho had already drowned. They both grabbed her around the waist and started to heave.

"Hngggggggggggh..."

Even with all their effort, they were only able to lift her maybe a few inches. Utsuho, naturally, was reduced to panic.

"Satori-sama, what's going to happen to me!? I'm out of air, I'm drowning, I'm-"

""...""

Silence. Both girls stopped trying to carry Utsuho upwards, letting her fall back down to the lakebed. They were looking at her with expressions of awe, unable to believe what she'd just done.

She was...talking.

"...wait, no I'm not. This isn't what drowning's meant to feel like. Unyuu?"

Utsuho felt weird. She wasn't breathing, that was for sure, but it didn't hurt or anything. She put her arm to her chest to check if it was rising.

"Ow!"

She pulled it away as the red eye on her chest burnt at it. Looking down, she could see it was giving off a small hum of its own.

"...Ohhhhhhhh."

Breathing was just a way for creatures to turn food into energy. If another method was available that didn't need air, logically a creature could survive without needing to breathe.

Utsuho, practically a walking nuclear reactor, was a perfect example of this. The Black Sun was producing far more energy from her food than simple breathing did, allowing her to go for potentially hours without air if necessary. (It helped that nowadays her dinners were now laced with plutonium - half because she thought it tasted good, and half because it stopped Orin from stealing her share.)

"...Uh...sorry for the worry, Master. Looks like I'm fine..."

Realising what was going on, Satori began to rub at her temples. Sango rolled her eyes, turning to Satori with a frown as if she'd been tricked.

"Um, I think I'll just walk over to the other side of the lake and get myself out," Okuu stammered, slowly walking away from her master. "Sorry again for the tro- hey, Master, why are you looking at me like that? I didn't mean to scare you, I just-"

 **Slap.**

\---

"Master! What happened to Okuu!? Is she okay?!" Orin yelled.

"...She'll be fine," Satori muttered. "Her cheek might be a little red for a while, though."

\-----

After Okuu's little display, Orin was more than willing to start at the shallow end. She waded further in, deeper and deeper, until the water was up to her neck. It took a lot of nerve to stop herself from walking backwards, but Satori pushing her forward also helped.

"So this is your first time too, huh?" Sango asked as she swam towards the kasha. "Least you seem to have a lot more sense than your boss does."

Sango was right in front of her, that fin on the back of her neck bringing a strange sensation of hunger to the cat. She restrained it, drooling slightly as she responded.

"W-well, I'm a cat at heart. We're not very good around water by nature..."

Orin's tails swung side to side beneath the water, her way of secretly venting her fear. Sango held her arms open, ready to accept her.

"Trust me. Satori did, and it worked out fine for her."

Orin gulped, tying her tails up around themselves. She took one last step forward, letting Sango hold her under her arms for support.

"Alright. Now, first of all, I'm gonna teach you how to tread water. When I let go, I want you to start kicking your legs and swinging your arms at your sides. Think you can do that?"

Orin nodded, feeling somewhat comforted by Sango's professionalism.

"...Okay. I think I'm re-"

Sango's hands moved away.

"-adyblubbl!?"

 _No warning!?_

Without a cue to prepare herself, Orin slipped under the water without a chance to follow the instructions she'd been given. Above her she could make out Sango muttering to herself.

"Hm, maybe that was a little over the top..."

If she wasn't underwater, Orin would have screamed something along the lines of 'DAMN STRAIGHT'. As was, though, she had to keep her lungs as full as possible - she wasn't Okuu, after all, with her own energy source attached to her chest.

"Mmh?"

Orin's attention was drawn to the wildlife swimming around her. She'd never actually seen a fish before as anything other than a rare treat, and now they were surrounding her by the dozens. Her tails stood on end as her mouth started to water.

 _...I can't believe it...it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet down here!_

There was no way they would miss one tiny little fish down here, surely. Orin reached out to one of the smaller ones to take as a starter, her stomach growling in anticipation-

"Mmph!?"

Someone had grabbed her from behind. Turning, she realised that Sango had come down to save her, pulling her up and away from her snack. Her hand remained stretched out, still desperately grabbing at the fish as she reached the surface.

"Sorry about that," Sango said, one hand rubbing behind her head. "I kinda overdid it."

Orin wasn't paying attention. She'd realised a possibility she'd never considered before, given her knowledge of the lakes underground. This one was almost a living larder, with all sorts of bite-sized goodies just waiting to be tasted.

 _So if I learn to swim, I can-_

"...You're not mad at me, are you?" Sango asked, frowning.

Orin almost spun on the spot, turning to Sango with a newfound enthusiasm.

"No, not at all! In fact, after that, I want to do this more than ever!"

She hoped that Sango couldn't hear her stomach rumbing. The dolphin youkai smirked.

"Heh...so now this close to the superstar that is Sango Tororetsu, you're all fired up. I know, I do that to people, don't be shy about it. How can you not love water this clean?"

"Uh...yeah..." Orin's eyes were looking in every direction other than forwards. "Doing it for the water...sure, that'll do."

"...Do I want to know why you're licking your lips?"

"Probably not."

\---

"Unyu~..."

Utsuho sat at the lake's edge, watching as Orin's training suddenly took on a whole new level of fervour. She picked up a pebble at her side and skipped it, taking care not to hit anybody. She looked down at the rock stuck to her leg, moaning slightly at the sight of it. She could take it off, but it would take her so long that by the time she was done it would be time to head home.

"Feeling alright?"

Satori walked up behind her, taking a little break after another few lengths. Utsuho couldn't bring herself to turn around.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Satori placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing. "It's not good to lie, you know."

Of course she wouldn't fall for that.. Utsuho sighed, realising it was a bad idea to try and lie to her master in the first place.

"...I just feel left out, that's all. You guys are having so much fun, and I'm stuck up here, doing nothing."

She threw another rock into the lake, managing four or five bounces before it sank. Satori took a seat beside her, smiling in the hope of passing it on.

"Come on, don't be like that. There are plenty of things down there you can see that we can't, aren't there? You aren't going to see any of it moping around up here."

Utsuho felt Satori push her forward the tiniest amount.

"Have fun."

She turned one last time to her master, still smiling, spinning around as she fell. It was only a mild shove, but it was enough to send her over the edge.

"Ah-"

 **Splash.**

"Sorry, Utsuho, but as your master I've decide you aren't allowed to mope."

\---

"Unyuu...That was mean, Master..."

Utsuho pouted as she sank once again to the bottom of the lake. At least her swimsuit was seeing some good use.

 **Clong.**

"Well, I'm down here now...might as well make the most of it."

She walked slowly across the lake bottom, hoping that some of the fish would be willing to give her a second chance. She could make out Orin and Sango at the surface, Orin being taught how to kick while Sango held her arms in place. Even from here, Utsuho could make out an ambitious glint in her friend's eyes as she looked down at the schools of fish beneath her.

"She didn't have breakfast this morning, now that I think about it..."

She strolled along, practically forgetting she was underwater. The fish came strolling back to her, their seven-second memories resetting and forgetting the previous accident. She held a hand out - without the control rod this time - and carefully stroked the scales on the closest fish.

"Aw, it's so cute..."

Utsuho possessed none of Orin's carnivorous instincts, more keen on just playing with the fish than eating them. They seemed to enjoy it, making no attempt to stay away from her this time.

"Y'know, maybe this is kind of fun...but I still wish that I could swim like everyone else."

She frowned again, looking at the rock stuck on her leg. She'd managed to get rid of the control rod, but she couldn't imagine it would make things any easier-

"Unyu?"

An idea popped into Utsuho's mind, taking a few seconds to process properly. When at last it came out, a new grin popped onto her face.

"Ufufufu...wait until they see this..."

\-----

"Come on, just make it to the edge and you're done!"

Orin was splashing around far more than she needed to as she took on Sango's traditional last test - a full length of the lake. It wasn't that her technique was poor - if she focused she was actually pretty decent - but excitement made it hard for her to stay calm. After this she was free to do whatever she wanted - including taking a dive into the lake and helping herself to the local delicacies.

 _Just a little more..._

She was tiring herself out with all this unnecessary splashing, but the end was in sight. She rose for another breath, seeing the edge just a few strokes away. Her head went under again, and she could see the wildlife passing beneath her. She never got tired of it - she could almost hear their little squeaky voices saying 'Eat me, Orin! Eat me!'

 _Soon, little ones...very soon..._

Her hand felt solid stone, and she surfaced immediately. Looking down on her was a proud Sango, giving her one last pat on the back.

"Nice work. Not quite up their with Satori yet, but you're getting there."

 _Wow, thanks for the vote of support._

Sango, unaware that she'd accidentally insulted Orin, jumped into the water with a smirk. Satori took her place, clapping softly to celebrate her pet's success.

"Well done, Orin. You look pretty proud of youself."

Orin nodded, spraying herself with drips from her soaking hair.

"You bet I am! Now I get to dive for real and-"

Orin suddenly cut herself short, relatively certain that she'd already given away too much. Satori caught the tail end of that sentence, and a look of dismay rose to her face right away.

"...I see. Well, just...try not to gorge yourself."

In the end, she opted for neutrality, giving Orin her blessing but also a warning. The cat nodded, already looking forward to her first real swim-

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey!"

Just before Orin took her first trip into the depths below, she heard a voice in the distance. Utsuho was calling out to her, hoping to get the attention of Satori and Sango as well.

"Nyaa...always at the worst time..."

\---

"A race?"

Utsuho nodded.

"Yeah. Is that a bad idea or something?"

Satori, Orin and Sango looked at each other awkwardly. They were fine with the idea of a race, yes, but the problem was with Utsuho.

"But Okuu," started Orin, "Isn't that sort of unfair on you?"

The raven shrugged, clicking her control rod back into place.

"Eh, I'll figure something out."

Sango and Orin looked at her blankly, as she disabled herself even further with the rod on top of the rock, but Satori's eyes widened slightly. Slowly she smiled, nodding at the thought.

"That's a good idea. Don't you two think it'd be fun?"

Orin was still skeptical, but as she saw her master agree she decided that whatever Utsuho was planning couldn't be that bad if she was fine with it. Sango crossed her arms, laughing out loud as she saw that everyone else was up for a race.

"Ha ha ha ha! You guys realise that you don't have a chance, right? I mean come on, I'm a freaking dolphin. No offense, but those arms and legs of yours are sorta...crappy when it comes to swimming."

As the teacher of all three of them (well, the two of them that could actually swim) Sango had a good deal of confidence in herself. Satori was the one to come forward with a wry smile.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so willing to write off my pets. They've got some tricks up their sleeves, if you know what I mean."

 _Unyu...way to kill off the mystery, Master..._

\---

The rules were agreed on quickly - one journey across the lake, and first one to touch the far edge was the winner. The four competitors stood at the edge of the water, ready to jump in at Utsuho's call (as Sango put it, 'it's not like an unfair lead is going to help her much').

Satori stretched her arms, warming herself up for the competition. Orin was quietly reminding herself not to take a detour into a nearby school of fish. Sango was already paddling in the water, not even giving her competition so much as a glance. Utsuho simply looked out into the water, making no preparations at all.

"No hard feelings, guys," Sango said as she gave her opponents a salute. "This is gonna be kinda one-sided."

Sango let off one semi-honest apology as everyone took their positions. Utsuho, for some reason, stood further away from the edge than the rest, leading Sango to wonder if she was going for another run-in.

"OK, get ready..." Utsuho began. The three other swimmers braced themselves, ready to charge.

"GO!"

Three of them dove into the water at once, but only two surfaced. A single grey fin hung above the water, blasting across the lake with ease. Satori followed behind, unable to keep up despite all her practice, and Orin trailed further still thanks to her non-existent technique.

Despite this, Utsuho continued to stand at the edge of the lake. Sango glimpsed her idling as she broke further away from the pack.

 _Well, at least she isn't fooling herself into thinking she has a chance..._

Halfway there already, and Sango was still gaining distance. Behind her confidence she felt sort of guilty for her opponents, and most of all for the raven who'd insisted on it when she was easily the worst swimmer of them all...

\---

And of course, trailing in last place was Okuu, who hadn't so much as placed a foot in the water yet. She looked out to estimate the progress of the other competitors.

"Hmm...Sango's about halfway. Better do it now."

She turned her back to the lake, pointing her control rod slightly upward but aiming at nothing. With her other hand, she pulled out a card and began to chant.

"Black Sun, grant me your blessing and annihilate the enemy before me!"

The control rod began to spin rapidly, making a loud whirring as it charged up. It began to produce a blinding light far stronger than the one underwater, so she took care not to look into it.

"...That's probably enough charging time. **Explosion Sign [Giga Flare]**!"

At her command the charging ceased, and a single massive bullet burst out of the rod with a deafening bang. It flew into the distance at lightning speed, flying above anything that it could possibly damage.

The same force that pushed the bullet forwards made Utsuho's entire body recoil, flying backwards into the water like a bullet. She could make out everyone turning around to see her: firstly Orin, who watched in amazement at her friend's ingenuity; then Satori, who simply smiled as she was passed. Finally she caught a single glimpse of Sango as a dolphin, and even in this form Utsuho could make out the shock in her expression. Utsuho winked.

 _It worked! It really, really wo-wait, how do I stop?_

Braking was not something Utsuho had worked into her plan. The lake's edge was approaching rapidly, and she showed no sign of slowing down. There wasn't even anything for her to grab onto, the local fish darting out of her path to avoid being roasted.

"...Aw, crap."

 **SMASH.**

A chunk of the stone gave way as she crashed into it, still not quite enough to stop her. She collided with a pile of rocks lying against a lakebed wall, knocking up a considerable amount of dust. Sango, still in shock, waited for Orin and Satori to fill their lungs and catch up before venturing into the depths.

The dust had more or less cleared by the time they made it down, and they found rubble and debris were there had been rocks. Likewise, where they thought there'd been a wall there was a gaping opening - a forgotten cavern which Utsuho had forcefully reopened. Utsuho herself was lying in an raven-shaped hole in thelakebed .

"Unyuu..."

The three of them together were enough to pull her up to the surface and help her recover from the self-induced dizziness. Orin hugged her, while Satori offered her a careful pat on the back. Sango initially tried to argue that she hadn't technically hit a wall so it didn't count, but eventually she conceded and congratulated Utsuho on a (painful) victory.

"...So, what exactly did Okuu crash into?"

Orin asked the question as she held Utsuho in her arms. Sango shrugged.

"You want me to be honest? I have no idea. Never seen that place before..."

There was silence, each of the girls keeping their thoughts to themselves. At least, that would've been the case if there wasn't a mind-reader among them.

"Well, it seems you three are as interested in that cavern as I am."


	3. Chapter 3

"So, how exactly are we gonna do this?" Orin started, with the question that was obviously on everyone's mind. "That thing is pretty deep...and it might go on for a while. I dunno about Master Satori, but I don't think I can hold my breath for that long."

Orin frowned as she spoke, clearly keen on going but not sure how she could get anywhere. Satori nodded along with her, having the same doubts about her own endurance. Sango let off a loud 'hmmmm', trying to come up with a solution on her own.

"You could try not breathing in. That's what I do."

"Sadly, we aren't dolphins," Satori replied. Sango's shoulders drooped as the answer struck her.

"Oh. Well, uh...never mind, then."

She slumped back down onto the ground. She didn't look used to thinking about things like this - or anything else, if Orin was to be honest about it. The four of them sat in thought for a moment, until finally Satori clicked her fingers.

"If the kappa are willing to sell us outfits for swimming, maybe they have other equipment we can use as well. We should get in contact with one of the local engineers."

There was a moment of silence as everyone thought Satori's proposition over, eventually deciding that it was worth a shot.

"Well, in that case, I'm pretty sure you'll find the girl you're looking for in that direction," Sango said as she pointed into the distance. "Little hut just down there, looks like it fell out of a hurricane."

As Sango gave her guests directions, she began to walk ahead to guide them directly. Satori and Utsuho followed, leaving Orin to herself.

This was her chance.

"Don't mind me, just gonna...get some practice in..."

She poked her head into the water, seeing a tiny little snack looking up at her. Her hunger struck again, and she opened her mouth to swallow the fish in one gulp-

"Ah!?"

Someone had grabbed her tails and yanked her out of the water. As she turned around she saw Sango dragging her along against her will.

"You can leave eating my friends until later."

 _Busted..._

\---

Nitori Kawashiro was not used to visitors. Being relatively shy, this was a good thing for her. Being an inventor who needed people to buy from her so she could eat, it was a very bad thing.

"And it looks like today is as slow as usual..."

She sat at her workbench, idly screwing a bolt into some contraption she'd come up with. She hadn't decided what exactly it was yet - when nothing came to mind, she just put random things together until she got an idea. She'd currently produced an abomination of scrap metal that would make any mechanic wince. Aware that she'd screwed up, she threw the failed invention into an ever-growing scrap heap.

"I need to come up with something..."

 **Knock-knock.**

 _What the?!_

For a while she thought someone was trying to knock one of the walls of her house down, but eventually she realised it was simply a guest at the door. She tiptoed over to the entrance, peeking to see who her visitors were.

"H-Hey! You're-"

She recognised three of them - the cat, the raven, and the distracted one. She'd seen Marisa take them on during that hot spring incident a little while back, but the last one was someone new to her. Some sort of fish youkai?

"Uh, hi there. I'm Rin Kaenbyou, but you can call me Orin. Wanna talk business?"

Those last three words were enough to draw Nitori's attention. Business meant money, and money meant living on something other than cucumbers for a change. She pulled the door open, letting the entire ensemble in. There wasn't much in the way of furniture for them to sit on, so they either stood on the spot or sat on the floor.

"...I'm guessing from what you're wearing that you've been swimming?"

Three of them were in swimsuits, water from the lakes dripping all over the floor. The fish youkai was dressed normally, at least, but her skirt was dripping just as badly. Nitori decided she was going to charge these folks extra for housing repairs.

"Yeah, in one of the lakes nearby. We found a little underwater cavern, actually, that we were hoping to take a better look into."

"Really?" Nitori asked, genuinely curious. "I didn't think there was anything like that around here..."

"Well, it was pretty well hidden." Orin's eyes turned to her raven companion, who'd been rubbing at the side of her head since she'd come in. Nitori had no idea what she was missing here, but with money on the horizon it wasn't worth thinking about too hard.

"O...kay. So, you want to take a better look inside this cavern?"

Orin nodded.

"Pretty much, but there's a couple of stumbling blocks - worst of all, the fact that a few of us need to breathe every once in a while. You got anything to take care of that?"

Nitori gave the group a look over. Three of them didn't have pockets, let alone money to put inside them. The fish girl didn't look like she had enough to cover costs either. Nitori sighed, shaking her head at the crowd.

"Nope, sorry, can't think of anything that'd help y-"

"Don't bother lying to us," Satori muttered, cutting her short. "A salesman should always be honest."

Dammit. She'd forgotten about the psychic in the group. Now she looked bad. If word got out that she'd been caught lying to her customers, she'd never do business again. She sighed, admitting to herself that it was time for damage control.

"OK, OK. I've got something that might help you out. A prototype I haven't put into production yet. And just because I'm nice, I'll let you give it a trial run for free!"

The psychic smiled to herself, stepping forward in her pet's place. Nitori gulped. It'd be much harder to negotiate with her, but she had to salvage this deal. Maybe they'd offer a hefty tip if things worked out?

Nitori led them backwards into her workshop, where her finest inventions were strewn around with reckless abandon. In this pile of (arguable) genius, Nitori started rummaging around, looking for something in particular. The fish girl had start picking up various items, looking at them with all the curiosity and ignorance of a five-year-old. She came to Nitori with a remote, twirling it in her fingers.

"What does this thingy do?"

"Yeah, that one isn't mine." Nitori muttered as she dug through the pile of mechanical miscellany. "Picked it up from Kourindou. Apparently you use it to work a television."

The youkai blinked. "What's a television?"

"When I figure that out, you'll be the first to know."

Bemused, the girl dropped it back into the pile. Nitori heard the remote smash as it slammed into the nuts and bolts strewn across the floor. Another charge for damaging property, Nitori told herself.

"So, uh, what do you think of my work?" the creature asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Nitori turned away from scavenging, looking at her blankly.

"Sorry, what?"

She held her hands out, waiting for Nitori to sing her praises. "Well, come on, you've gotta have heard of Sango Tororetsu, right?"

Nitori blinked once, twice, three times as she ran the name through her head. It turned up a blank.

"Can't say I've heard of you, sorry."

The words seemed to hit Sango like a brick. She stepped backwards, physically deflating as she walked to the other side of the room. Nitori grimaced, but focused her attention on giving these people something they'd want to pay for.

At last, she found it. From the deepest point of the pile she pulled out a large cylindrical tank, with a hose coming out of one end.

"Here we go~. Miss Kaenbyou, could you come over here?"

"Seriously, call me Orin...Kaenbyou is so long..." the kasha grumbled, coming forward at Nitori's request. She promptly found herself acting as the kappa's personal mannequin, as Nitori worked on the various straps and belts that kept the tank secure. When she was done, she held the end of the hose a few inches from Orin's mouth.

"Okay, see that thing sticking out of the hose?" she said, pointing at the mouthpiece. "Bite down on that, and you've got enough air to last you for hours!"

The cat seemed curious enough, biting down and taking a breath. The tank gave off the usual loud hiss that showed it was working. Nitori smirked.

"Heck, I'm feeling generous today," she continued, pulling a smaller cylinder out from the pile. "I'm gonna throw in a flashlight as well, since it's gonna be dark down there. Leave it to Kawashiro to give you good service!"

She clicked a button on the side, and a brilliant light shone out from one end of the light. Orin nodded, looking even more impressed. Nitori worked to hide her satisfaction at a sealed deal.

"And I'm afraid that's all I've got to offer you. Sorry, that thing's a prototype, so I haven't managed to make more than one yet. And I _am_ expecting it back, of course. Any tips for it would be greatly appreciated~!"

"Hiss...hm? Only one?"

Orin finally took the mouthpiece out to relay her disappointment. She turned to her owner, who shared none of her concern.

"Don't worry. I'll just wait until you're done before I use it, that's all. There's no problem taking turns, is there?"

Utsuho was next to speak up. "Uh...I think I'll wait until you two are done as well. Don't want Master Satori going in alone, that's all."

Orin nodded, eyes turning away from the two people that Nitori recognised, and shifting to the one that she didn't.

"So, looks like it's gonna just be the two of us, huh?"

The fish girl had already placed her hand on Orin's shoulder, having regained her composure.

"What's the matter?" she asked, her smile a little too wide. "It's not like you were planning on helping yourself to a thing or two down there, is it?"

"O-Of course not...h-hey, Okuu, is it possible you could switch with Sango-san? I just want to do this with you more than anyone else..."

Utsuho bowed down. "I think I'll just slow you down. It's okay, Sango-san looks like a good enough person to me."

"...Nyaa, you're missing the point..."

\-----

"Damn, this thing is heavy."

As she carried the tank back to the lake, Orin's legs buckled slightly under its surprising weight. Nitori had (very quickly) explained that there was lots of air in a small space, but she didn't realise that air even HAD a weight.

"You okay, Orin? I can lend you a hand...well, one."

Utsuho, trailing behind, had forgotten to take the control rod off after her earlier escapade. Orin smiled at her, but otherwise paid her no mind.

"No thanks, I'm fine. ...But seriously, of all the people it could have been, it had to be her..."

Utsuho tiled her head. "Unyu? Do you not like Sango?"

"It's more like she doesn't like me," Orin muttered, suddenly interested in her own feet. "She's sorta protective of the local wildlife, but she won't appreciate that I haven't eaten all daaay..."

Utsuho stared at her blankly.

"But...don't cats eat fish? I thought that was just how things worked."

"I wish it were that simple, but she treats them like they're real people. To her, those fish are-"

\---

"--My friends."

Up ahead, Sango was spilling her heart out to Satori. Her listener looked somewhat torn, nodding along with every point.

"I suppose that is an issue, yes," Satori said, not quite sure who to side with. "But you have to appreciate that it's in her nature, and besides that she's a wonderful person."

Sango seemed unconvinced, staring at her blankly.

"You're probably right, but...I dunno, there's something about her I just don't like. It always feels like there's some part of her that she's hiding, that she doesn't want people to see..."

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Satori had waited for the best chance to drop the trump card. Sango flinched, then looked back at her with a solemn expression.

"Heh...you've got a point there. But I've got a good reason, right? People aren't gonna like me if I'm a nobody."

"Sango-san, somewhere down the line you're going to realise that-"

\---

"--No-one's perfect, right?"

Orin wasn't buying it. She stuck her nose up at the thought.

"Not that you could tell with her. She keeps on acting like she's the ruler of all of Gensokyo. Did you see her trying to sell herself to that kappa? Or when you came up with the idea for a race?"

Utsuho was trying her best to defuse the situation. Sango was a good person, she was sure of it, and she didn't want Orin to dislike her for bad reasons.

"...Um, yeah, but don't you do that too? You like showing off when you do something you're good at, so what's wrong with her doing it?"

"I-It's not the same! I don't do it to make myself look better than I really am, do I?!"

"Well...you do, sorta..."

Coming from Utsuho, of all people, this hit Orin pretty hard. She was suddenly aware that her tails were dragging along the ground behind her.

"Nyaa...All I wanted was something to eat, that's all..."

"Orin, I'm sure if you just talk to her-"

\---

"--You two can work things out."

Sango was glad that Satori was the only person who could see her from here, because right now she wasn't the cheerful, happy-go-lucky character she wanted people to see her as. She shook her head, getting more emotional than she wanted to be.

"But if I start apologising, that means I lose. I don't wanna come off as needing to explain myself to her, y'know?"

Satori exhaled sharply. She was patient, but Sango felt she was starting to reach her limit.

"Orin's in the same position as you. Sooner or later, one of you is going to have to be the bigger person and make the first move."

"The bigger person..."

Sango whispered those words beneath her breath as she thought them over. She was stalling for time more than anything, looking towards the lake as they arrive.

"Well, it'll have to wait for a while, at least. We're here, and it's not like we can talk while we're checking this place out."

Satori smiled.

"Leave that to me."

\---

As they arrived at the lake, there was one last test to make sure that Orin's equipment did what it was supposed to do. She dove to the bottom of the lake and surfaced, breathing from the tank the whole time as the flashlight gave off a radiant beam wherever she pointed it. She had to admit, the kappa knew what they were doing when it came to stuff like this.

 _And at least this means I don't have to talk to her._

She sat at the side of the lake after the test was finished, ready to dive for real. Sango sat next to her, not needing to make any preparations of her own.

For a moment, they just looked at one another, neither saying a word. Sango was staring her down, steel-faced, and Orin forced herself to match it. Utsuho's words still echoed in her head, and a tiny part of her wanted to come out and apologise, but her pride stopped her from letting loose.

"Okay, you two." In the end, Satori was the one to speak up. "Something I'm throwing in as an extra precaution."

She came up behind the two divers, placing one hand on each of their shoulders.

"That cavern could be dangerous. You two will need some way to keep in touch."

Both of them were now looking at Satori with their full attention. Orin looked down for a moment, seeing that Sango had the same look of nerves that she did. She wasn't sure whether that was good or bad, but she didn't have time to find out as Satori murmured something to herself.

 _" _Form a bond between these two no blade can hope to shatter."__

 __She had no spellcard, but her third eye began to glow as she made her declaration. It wasn't a spellcard, per se, but it came from the same power source.  
_ _

___**_**"Telepathy [Heart-To-Heart]!** _ ** _ _"_

Orin caught something growing from her forehead. A white wire expanded from between her eyes, flying forward and stabbing at Sango's face. The moment it made contact, it vanished into thin air, and the pair of them flinched.

 _What the hell was that?_

"I have no idea either..."

Sango was as clueless as she was, scratching her head. It took Orin a few seconds to realise that something was wrong about that exchange.

"...Wait. What did you say?"

"I was just answering you, that's all."

Satori seemed unusually happy as she watched the two looking at each other, bemused. Utsuho was, as usual, totally lost.

"Unyu~? But Orin didn't say anything..."

 _Yeah, I was just thinking that-_

"Don't be silly. I can hear you-"

There was a moment of silence as both of them realised what the spell did.

 _You mean I've gotta listen you everything you think now?!_

 _"More like I have to listen to you,"_ Sango answered, folding her arms and falling forward into the water. Orin waited for a moment, giving her master a harsh glare, before she followed suit.

"Satori-sama...was that really a good idea?" she overheard Utsuho say before she sank out of earshot.

"They've got more in common than they think. They'll be fine."

\---

"Hiss...blub blub blub blub blub..."

 _Geez. I can barely hear myself think over this thing._

The endless hissing and gurgling initially got on Orin's nerves, but she got used to it as she dove down. Sango was only slightly ahead of her, already in dolphin form.

 _...Huh? Why aren't you running ahead like you usually do?_

Sango turned around to look at her, waiting at the mouth of the cavern.

 _"You're the one with the flashlight, remember?"_

Orin gasped, looking down at the gadget in her hand and turning it on. It gave the pair more than enough light to make their way forward. Orin took the lead, given that she was the one with the light source.

 _So, just you and me, with no way to get away from each other,_ Orin thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

 _"Yeah,"_ Sango answered. _"This is going to be brilliant, isn't it?"_

 _Fan-freaking-tastic._

\-----

The tunnel was as generic as tunnels got, and there was nothing to be heard other than the neverending gurgling coming from Orin. It continued on for some time, making the cat glad she'd brought the tank with her.

 _There'd better not be a dead end at the end of this..._

As they delved further within, Orin was worried she'd jinxed it - there was still nothing worth seeing, and they may as well has left the flashlight back at Nitori's.

 _"...There isn't. I can feel it."_

Sango's thoughts played out in Orin's head, a feeling she still hadn't grown accustomed to. She looked back at the dolphin as she swam onward.

 _"There's something coming from this place. Something...dirty. I can't tell what yet, but it's getting stronger the further in we go. Maybe we should stop and ask someone for-"_

 _Don't be a scaredy-cat! I feel fine, so it can't be anything that bad, right? Come on, let's go!_

Orin continued onward, swimming faster as she became excited as to what could be waiting for them at the end of this tunnel. Sango trailed behind, and Orin had to smile to herself. Not so brave now, was she?

 _"...It's not like it's gonna be anything I can't fix, I guess..."_

As they started to reach the end of the tunnel, Orin and Sango were surprised to notice that they no longer needed the flashlight - there was electrical lighting at the sides of the walls, which had suddenly taken on a metallic sheen. Orin's eyes widened.

 _Ooh...is this some sort of ruin of the past with all sorts of goodies to find!? Maybe an aquarium or two?!_

 _"...You're half right."_

"Blub?"

 _"It's probably some sort of facility. But I get the feeling it's still in use."_

 _ _Orin raised an eyebrow._ Is that a good thing?_

"If this feeling I'm getting is right? It's very, very bad."

\---

The tunnel came to an abrupt end not long afterward, opening up into an underground river. The walls were fully plated with a simple metal, and various pieces of machinery made deafening sounds of operation. Orin was the first to surface, spitting out the mouthpiece and enjoying a breath of real air.

"Man, that feels good. That stuff is so artificial, y'know?"

Sango didn't share in her relief, if anything more unnerved than ever. She switched out of her dolphin form as soon as she got the chance, practically leaping out of the water. Her eyes immediately locked onto an overgrown machine in the centre of the room, lowering a single tendril into the lake. A small stream of grey liquid ran through the tendril, leaving the water a duller shade than it should have been.

"...I knew it. I knew it!"

Orin watched as Sango leapt back to life, all the nervous energy she'd been holding back on the journey in suddenly leaping out. She slammed a foot into the machine, sending sparks flying, but it continued to leak its contents out into the water. Sango kicked at it again, righteous fury running across her face, not stopping until Orin ran out and pulled her back.

"W-What're you doing?! You don't even know what that thing-"

"It's poisoning the water! I can feel it!"

Despite Orin's best efforts to restrain her, Sango was too angry to be stopped. As she slammed her foot into the machine yet again Orin could hear the impact, the sound of gears smashing and circuits breaking. The machine's whirring died down quickly, as Sango pulled out the freshwater vial at her waist and practically emptied it into the water. It returned to the beautiful, crystal-clear colour of the lake outside.

"There." For a moment, it looked like her anger had passed, but as she looked at the rest of the room it quickly found strength again. "...What the hell do they think they're doing!?"

She ran up to the next machine, giving it the same treatment. Orin could only look on in sheer bewilderment.

"'They'? Who do you mean, 'they'?"

"The kappa, of course!" Sango screamed. "They're using the lake to get rid of their goddamn waste!"

Sango was punching out another machine, ripping buttons off with her bare hands. Her face had gone bright red, her voice rising to a howl.

"They promised! We agreed to let them do whatever they liked as long as promised not to start polluting. And what do they do!?"

For a moment it sounded like Sango was crying as she spoke, but she turned her head away so Orin couldn't see. Her hands had gone bright red from her rampage, until at last her anger was spent and she fell to her knees.

"...It's not fair...I work so hard to keep them clean, and people just..."

The only force she could muster was a single fist, slamming weakly into the machine in front of her. Orin came up from behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sango...are you gonna be okay?"

The dolphin didn't answer, sniffling and looking away. One hand rubbed at her face, and she pulled herself to her feet.

"...Sorry about that. I...I kinda lose it when I see people do this to the water."

Sango was smiling amidst the tears, trying to regain her composure. She stood up, taking deep breaths as she pulled Orin's hand away from her shoulder.

"Let's just...let's just go. I don't know what I'll do if I stay in here."

\---

There was a simple corridor leading out of the waste disposal room, which the two girls quickly walked down. Orin had left the tank besides the lake, since she wasn't going to need it any more. Sango was still recovering from her earlier tantrum.

"...So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to find whatever's producing that crap they're spewing into the water, and I'm gonna turn it off. With force, if I have to." She punched at her empty palm, a fire burning behind her eyes. " They break the rules, they pay the price."

The stamping of Sango's feet resounded through the corridor, deafening compared to Orin's light steps. Orin thought it over for a moment, then sighed. If the dolphin felt like causing trouble, there'd be no harm in tagging along.

"...Alright then. If that's how it's going, then I don't see why I shouldn't help you a little."

Sango froze as she heard this, turning around to see Orin giving her a wry smile. She held a hand out for Sango to shake. The dolphin, grinning in return, accepted it and shook fiercely.

"Agreed. ...Thank you."

"No problem. Now, do you have any idea where we should sta-"

Orin's eyes caught something watching her. A camera had locked onto them, observing them with a cold, robotic glare.

 _That...can't be good._

 **"WARNING. INTRUDERS DETECTED IN WASTE DISPOSAL CORRIDOR. SECURITY ALERT INITIATED."**

 _"Yeah. Definitely not good."_

A blaring alarm started to drone through the corridor, causing both girls to shield their ears. Behind them they could barely make out the entrance they'd used slamming shut.

"Uh-oh."

In an instant they were both running, afraid that at any time some sort of kappa scientist would come at them with a laser gun or something else that'd reduce them to ashes. Orin was the faster runner, but she held back so Sango could keep up - repaying an earlier favour, in a way. The corridor split into to just ahead, and wordlessly they agreed to split up. Orin took the left path, Sango the right.

 _Dammit, now what are supposed to do!?_

Heart-To-Heart was still working, so Orin's thoughts were making it to Sango even now as she started running full-speed.

 _"I don't know! Just look for something that looks like a generator!"_

The corridors split up over and over again until neither of them were sure which way they were going. Doors flew past them, but neither of them wanted to risk walking into a guard station.

"But I...can't just...keep running forever!"

Orin's heart was pounding, her lungs burning. She needed to stop, but standing in the corridor when people be waiting for her anywhere was suicide.

 _Gonna have to just hope for the best...!_

She charged into the first room she saw, smashing the door down with her shoulder. She stumbled a few steps from the momentum as she caught her breath. Her eyes drifted around the room, focusing on nothing until she got a few breaths of air in her lungs. As soon as she was aware of her surroundings, her mind froze.

 _...Um...Sango? I think I found it._

By an amazing stroke of luck, she'd walked into the reactor room. She could make out vats and machines performing complicated procedures she had no hope of understanding, and an endless sea of dials whose purpose she was clueless about.

 _"Can you...turn it off?"_

Sango's thoughts were hazy - she was probably still running, and even at her slower speed it would tire her out eventually. Initially Orin shook her head, not realising that Sango wouldn't be able to see that.

 _No, I don't think so. It's some sort of..._

Orin looked up at the largest vat, seeing a familiar-looking symbol on the front. Three yellow segments revolved around a small yellow circle, all against a black backdrop. This was a simple enough sign for her to understand.

 _...Nuclear reactor. ...No way, they're not trying to-_

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

A voice Orin didn't recognise came up from behind her. By the time she'd turned around the fist was only a few inches from her face.

"Ah-"

If the impact didn't knock her out cold, the collision with the wall certainly did. Orin's attacker hung over her limp body, smiling to herself.

"I swear, these kappa I've hired really are horrendous when it comes to security. I'll need to dock their pay again."

\---

 _Orin?_

The train of thought that had been running through Sango's head had stopped. She waited nervously for Orin to respond, hearing nothing in return.

 _ORIN!_

Still nothing. Sango's heart felt like it was about to explode, and this news wasn't helping her in the slightest. Something had happened to her, and Sango needed to do something about it-

"Ah!"

She wasn't used to walking, and she definitely wasn't used to running. The fact that she'd gone for so long without tripping was a miracle, but it was one that came to an end pretty quickly. She almost fell through the door in front of her, barely knocking it aside as she continued to slip. Her head smashed into a machine she didn't recognise, knocking her out cleanly.

If she were conscious to see it, she'd have been glad to know that the machine was totalled.

\---

"Nngh..."

 _Ow...my head..._

Orin woke up dazed and confused, her brain feeling as if it was on fire. She remembered running into a room, finding the reactor, and then-

 _Oh yeah...I got knocked out._

Coming to her senses, Orin quickly realised something was wrong. She tried stretching her arms out, but her wrists refused to move apart. Some sort of mechanical device was holding them together, and no amount of straining was going to do anything about it. Looking down, she saw something tied to her leg, from which a chain led down to a metallic ball.

"Good morning, my little intruder. How are we today?"

 _That voice...!_

It was the woman who knocked her out. Rising onto her knees, Orin could make out a figure in a white lab coat with long purple hair approaching her. She adjusted her glasses, looking down at her captive with calm, calculating violet eyes.

"What? You were expecting a kappa? Well, I'm afraid you'll have to settle for a lowly human for now. Oh, and so you don't get any ideas about escaping..."

The scientist pushed a button on a distant control panel. A simple transparent sheet of glass appeared in front of Orin, trapping her in a small rectangle. The floor was also transparent, and she could see the room below her through it, with a threatening-looking pool of water some fifteen feet deep waiting to swallow her up.

"Guess where you're going if you misbehave?"

There was a cruel pleasure in the scientist's voice as she walked towards the screen, looking down at the trapped cat. She sighed to herself.

"Ah, but where are my manners? I'm Rikako Asakura, but you'll refer to me as Professor Asakura if you know what's good for you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kaenbyou."

\-----

"...How do you know my name?"

She'd called her Kaenbyou, and she hadn't been carrying anything giving her name away. Rikako smirked, grabbing a clipboard from on top of a nearby desk. Her finger began to run down the paper clipped to it, her eyes following.

"Rin Kaenbyou. Also known as Orin. Kasha. Pet of Satori Komeiji, owner of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. And most importantly..."

Her finger slammed into the board, her nail piercing the paper.

"Close friend of Utsuho Reiuji."

 _!!!_

The look of horror on Orin's face spoke volumes. Rikako looked down on her with another proud smile.

"Ah, so you've figured it out. Yes, I have a particular interest in your hell raven friend. She has a power which I find most...intruiging."

The nuclear symbol in the reactor room flashed in front of Orin's eyes. She felt a violent urge rising within her, but she knew that she'd be taking a fatal plunge if she did anything out of hand.

"So...you want to figure out all that nuclear stuff."

Rikako sighed, irritation rising in her voice at the assumption that Orin had made.

"It's not that I don't understand it, it's that I've had to settle for a simplistic, weaker form than hers. I need to study her cellular structure, understand how her body could possibly hope to control it when it takes me several rooms of machinery to grasp."

Even as she said it, she seemed to be interesting herself, starting to walk in a small circle with her hand on her chin. Orin wasn't sure if it was safe to interrupt, but she tried anyway.

"Uh...maybe that's because it's ma-"

"Quiet."

Rikako grabbed a nearby wrench, throwing it at the screen with an impressive smack. The screen was undamaged, but it was enough to make Orin keep quiet.

"Magic is an excuse you youkai use to leave us humans in the dust. Why must we sit back and let you infest Gensokyo while we're still plowing fields by hand?"

Orin had definitely picked her words poorly. Rikako became more and more flustered with each word out of her mouth. She turned to Orin and pointed at her with an accusative finger.

"You'll be my bargaining chip, Miss Kaenbyou. When your dear friend Utsuho finds out you've been kidnapped, she'll be oh so willing to turn herself in for your sake. Then I let you go, and I get the information I need. In the end, everyone wins."

Her voice was even, speaking with a calmness that terrified Orin. The kasha's blood boiled just at the thought of this girl getting her hands on Utsuho.

"But...why do you want to do this!? Okuu can control it perfectly fine, it's not like we need anyone else to do it!"

Rikako circled about. "Oh? So you'd keep the power to yourself, without asking how it works? That's what I hate most about you youkai, frankly. Never willing to question, to experiment. You lack ambition. But me...I'm different. I won't let your magic interfere with my plans. There's some deeper truth to reach, and science is the only way there. I'll find it however I have to." She turned to Orin with a look of utter disinterest. "Whether you like it or not."

Her apathy frightened Orin more than any outburst of emotion ever could. She shuffled her coat, coughing slightly as the subject changed.

"So yes. I'll be using you as a tool to get your little friend to come here. Of course, whether you're alive or not when she arrives is still to be decided...but you're cutting it close right now, I'll tell you that much."

Orin's hands were held against the screen, the urge to punch this sorry excuse for a human being in the face held back only by the urge to not start breathing water in the near future. She slipped forward, despairing over how she could hope to get out of here without risking Utsuho's life...

 _"Ow, ow, ow..."_

Her moping around ended abruptly, as a familiar voice suddenly popped into her head. It was complaining about a headache, but the fact it was there was enough to lift her spirits.

 _Sango!_

\-----

"!?"

Almost as soon as she woke up, Sango felt someone calling her name. She looked around for a few seconds, trying to find the speaker as she slowly became more aware of her surroundings.

 _Wait...Orin? Is that you!?_

She remembered losing contact with her just before she'd lost consciousness, so hearing her voice now was a comfort from the very start.

 _"Sango! Are you okay? Did they get you as well!?"_

Rubbing her head, Sango checked that she was alone. The room was deserted except for the device which she'd managed to fall into.

 _No, I'm fine...but since you had to ask that, I'm assuming you're in trouble._

 _"No kidding...they want to use me to get Okuu in and experiment on her. The ringleader's a maniac, too, and if I'm not careful she's gonna...well, it's not gonna be pretty."_

Her eyes widened. This was even worse than she'd expected it to be - she was hoping for a few people polluting out of laziness, but they were willing to resort to things like this for the sake of their research?

 _Oh...crap. Do you have any idea where you are?_

 _"Nyaa...I got knocked out, so I don't know...but I think they dropped the security after I got caught, so you should be fine in those corridors..."_

 _...Alright then._

Sango opened the door, feeling a violent determination in her heart. It was the sort of calm anger that you only reached after you'd gone too far for normal rage to sustain.

 _...Orin, you've gotta stall for time. Play to her ego, keep her talking. I'll be there as soon as I can._

 _"Got it. Hurry, though...she's nuts. I might end up pissing her off, and after that..."_

Orin didn't finish off, not wanting to think about what came after that. Sango nodded, opening the door.

 _I'll try my best._

And with that, she was bolting down the corridor, faster than she'd ever ran before.

\-----

 _So, I need to buy some time..._

Orin stopped focusing on her internal conversation, focusing back on reality. Rikako was currently looking through some camera feeds of the waste disposal room, with a variety of machines irreparably damaged.

"Your lack of appreciation for other people's property is astounding."

She was about to blame it on Sango, but she stopped herself before the word slipped out of her mouth. The element of surprise was all that Sango had, and she couldn't afford to let her lose that.

"Well, I know a couple of kappa, and they wouldn't have been very happy with what you were doing to the water. There was a treaty that-"

"I know, and I don't care. That was an agreement for the kappa, mere magical creatures. Why should I follow the rules of a turtle with legs?"

Her disdain for the kappa was obvious, even though they made up more or less her entire working force. Probably not a good topic to press on here, so Orin decided to change the subject.

"So, Miss Asa-"

"PROFESSOR Asakura."

"Sorry, Professor. ...Why Professor, anyway? What are you a professor **of**?"

Rikako was more keen to answer this one, grinning proudly at the captive cat.

"Excellent question! I can't say I have a specialty, though particle physics has absorbed my attention for the last year or two. Given enough time and enough resources, I believe I could be a reliable professor in any science you threw at me."

She stood up straight, proud of her work. It was much easier to make her happy than it was to get her angry, fortunately.

 _Alright, Orin, you've got this. Keep it up!_

"So, where did you study? I can't imagine Gensokyo is a good place to be a scientist."

"You'd be right there," Rikako answered, waving a finger in Orin's direction. "Not an academy in sight in this god-forsaken land. Had to teach myself everything I know with books that the kappa happened to drop into the local bookshop. Took a lot of effort, but here I am now!"

Orin smiled. This was easier than she had expected.

"Wow...that's pretty amazing."

"I know, I know. I'm not typically one to brag, but-"

Rikako stopped mid-boast, her eye catching an excerpt from a corridor camera. There was a single figure running down, heading in their direction.

 _Crap!_

"Uh, hey, anyway, what was that about you not wanting to brag?"

She was desperate now, trying to pull her away from the camera. Rikako was ignoring her entirely, watching the intruder with her full attention.

"...Hmph. A dolphin youkai."

She turned to Orin with an unimpressed expression. Her hand hovered over the button that frightened her the most.

"Wait, what're you-"

"I should have guessed you didn't come here alone."

As if on cue, the door flew open just as Rikako finished speaking. An exhausted Sango dashed in, seeing the scientist holding her friend to ransom.

"You...let her go!"

From the other side of the room, Rikako shrugged.

"Or what? You'll sonar me to death?"

She was clearly on the verge of pressing the button, but before she could perform the deed another idea came to her. Sango still stood in place, afraid of angering her as she pulled out a ring with dozens of keys attached to it.

"Actually, let's make an experiment of this. I want to see how you sort through the keys while you're under pressure."

Letting Sango finish the sentence in her head, Rikako finally pressed the ominous red button. The floor beneath Orin gave way, and she fell without so much as a scream.

"ORIN!"

The screen opened up, and Rikako cheerfully threw the keys down the hole along with Orin.

"Well, then, dolphin girl? Are you going to waste your time with me and let your friend drown down there?"

She knew which choice the dolphin would make, laughing heartily as Sango dove in after them.

"Well, that was simple."

She pressed some buttons at the nearby terminal, activating another alert. Either they drowned down there, or they surfaced and the security took them out. Either way, she won.

"...A shame that Kaenbyou has to die, though. I suppose I can work with it - as long as I don't say that I have her **alive** , I'm not technically lying..."

\----- ****

 **Splash!**

Orin was smart enough to take a deep breath before she hit the water. She started thrashing, trying to stop the ball around her ankle pulling her down.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Her efforts were in vain, and the ball hit the pool floor taking Orin with it. She tried to cup her cuffed hands around the ball and lift it, but she wasn't exactly known for super strength.

"Hnngh...hnn-blub!"

A little air leaked out, and Orin's attention was immediately diverted to making sure that was all she lost. Her hands struggled against the cuffs, but they still refused to budge.

 _Crap...I need to get a hold of those keys!_

Almost on cue, the keys fell into the water just as Orin asked for them. She waited for them to hit the bottom before swimming over to take them-

"Mmph?!"

She felt the chain pull her back. The keys were tantalisingly out of reach, as if they'd been placed there to taunt her.

"MMPH!"

Her arm stretched out, still only barely missing the keys. She was lying on the floor of the pool now for extra distance, but it felt almost like it was getting further away the harder she tried.

"Mmmhblublbl..."

Orin slumped, lying on the floor of the pool. She was never going to get anywhere like this...

 _"Orin!"_

Another massive splash from above, as a familiar voice worked its way back into her head.

 _Sango...!_

The dolphin youkai dove down hastily, grabbing the keys from the floor. She swam to Orin's side, tending firstly to the lock on the chain.

 _"...Crap, the keys all look the same!"_

She chose a key at random and tried to force it into the lock. Despite putting all of her force into it, the key refused to budge.

 _"Got any idea which one to use!?"_

Orin frantically shook her head. Her cheeks started to expand as she began to feel the urge to breathe.

 _Uh, no pressure, but if you'd hurry it up over there..._

Sango wished Orin would calm down. It didn't help that while she was trying to do this she had the cat's panicking stuck in her head. She picked another key, jamming it into the lock.

 _"...Nothing! Dammit...!"_

She was flipping through the keys now, picking whichever one came to mind. Orin did her best to keep herself still, but against her will her tails were thrashing about.

"Mmph...blublgl!"

Her hands moved up to cover her mouth, priceless bubbles slipping between her fingers.

 ___Seriously...at this rate, I'm gonna..._

Her thoughts were getting hazier as she started to get light-headed. Sango continued to wrestle with the lock, experimenting with key after key.

 _"There's too many, dammit! How am I supposed to figure this out?!"_

Nothing worked, and she'd only made it through half of the keys by now. But she had to get there eventually, as long as Orin kept holding on-

"G-glug!?"

Her lungs started emptying themselves against her will, her air quickly rushing to the surface. It almost seemed to be taunting her, stranding her at the bottom of the pool.

"Gluglglblub...Sangll...gobbl..."

 _I'm sorry...I couldn't..._

The world began to darken, and Sango moved away from the lock to lean over her. Her last few bubbles ran across the dolphin's face as her vision faded away. Her strength left her along with her air, and she went limp beneath the water.

Something pressed against her lips, bringing her back from the brink.

"Nnh...?"

As her vision came back to her, Orin found that Sango's arms had wrapped around her waist. More importantly, she'd locked lips with Orin to pass her air.

"Nyaaglugl?!?!?!"

She pushed Sango away as soon as her lungs were full, her face beetroot. Her tails were standing on end as she started pinching herself.

 _This isn't happening, this isn't happening, PLEASE tell me this isn't happening..._

In the midst of her panic, Sango went back to treating the lock, and through sheer dumb luck found the key she needed. There was a satisfying click as the clamp broke off of her ankle, and Orin's foot was released from its restraint. The sound was enough to convince Orin that this definitely wasn't a dream, and her immediate response was to break for the surface.

"Nyaaaa~n!"

She let out a cry as she broke the surface. It was a cry of relief, guilt and embarrassment all at once. Sango popped up shortly afterward, and helped the distraught Orin back onto land. They started experimenting again to find the key for the handcuffs, taking a little more time now that death wasn't imminent.

"Uh...s-sorry about that..."

A stuttered apology was about all Sango could manage, the magnitude of what she'd just done hitting her as well. Orin was holding her hands out to be uncuffed, sinking her head into her lap.

"Nyaanyaanyaanyaa..."

She was nyaaing incoherently, steam almost rising from her ears. Sango could make out her thoughts, but there was nothing that made any sense.

 _thatwastheworstfirstkisseverit'ssupposedtobemagicalandstuffnotgetting  
oneacrossthelipsfromsomeovergrownfishdammitnowi'llneverbearealwomaaaaaaaan_

Sango paid her thoughts no mind, focusing on the task at hand. She eventually found the key she needed, undoing the handcuffs and allowing Orin to move her arms freely again.

"...Um..."

"...Uh..."

As they both stood up, they looked at each other with expressions that suggested they'd rather look anywhere else. Sango was starting to turn a little red herself.

"Let's, uh, act like this didn't happen. Okay?" Sango asked, hands behind her back and eyes looking to her side.

Orin nodded, with no objections in the slightest. Taking a few deep breaths to wipe her memory of the entire ordeal, she prepared to finally start walking.

"Let's just get out of here and find Master Satori..."

Neither of them wanted to hang around any more. Getting out had become their top priority, but as the door in front of them opened they realised it wasn't going to be as easy as simply retracing their steps.

"Freeze!"

Half a dozen security guards burst into the room, each brandishing a new kappa-brand weapon they called a 'tazer'. Sparks ran along the gadgets as they approached ready to give the two intruders a deadly shock, no doubt worsened by the fact they were both soaked.

"Aw, crap..."

\-----

The crowd hung around the door, approaching slowly to make sure their targets didn't slip around them. Getting back into the water wasn't an option - all they'd need to do is dip the tazer in the water and carry the bodies to Rikako.

"This is...bad."

Sango took a few nervous steps backwards. Purified Greywater might have been able to take them all out, but in this enclosed space there was no way she'd avoid friendly fire. Orin stood firm, staring down the crowd with uninterested eyes.

 _Is she still out of it!?_

The kappa walked further forward, only a few paces away from Orin. The cat simply took a single step backwards, holding her arms behind her back. It looked to the guards like she was retreating, but Sango's viewpoint offered her a very different perspective.

 _That thing in her hands...what is it!?_

A sphere of blue fire was emerging above Orin's hands, growing brighter and fiercer by the second. She continued to slowly walk backwards, the guards giving her plenty of time to prepare with their over-cautious approach.

"You aren't much of a fighter, are you?"

The flame was white hot now, and wider than Orin's palms. Stunned, Sango shook her head as Orin finally had her back to the wall. The guards began to walk towards them freely, no longer afraid of being strafed past.

"Well, then...looks like it's my turn to save you."

 _"Cover your eyes."_

An unspoken warning was enough for Sango to squeeze her eyes closed. With the guards still a few steps away, Orin let loose. In a single, fluid motion, she pulled her arm out from behind her back and threw the flaming orb at the crowd, landing square in the middle of the pack.

"Come on out, zombie fairies~!"

The sphere exploded, momentarily filling the room with a blinding light. Sango and Orin had closed their eyes in preparation, while the unprepared kappa were left grabbing at their eyes, stunned. A tap on her shoulder was Sango's cue to open her eyes and witness exactly what Orin had unleashed - an army of fairies had emerged from the sphere, a pale shade of blue with halos hanging over their heads.

 _She's a necromancer!?_

The fairies jumped on their dazed prey, grabbing onto their faces and refusing to let go. The kappa started to wrestle with their attackers, struggling to pry them away. Most importantly, none of them were in any state to take out the intruders.

"Now!"

Orin blitzed at the crowd, grabbing Sango by the shoulder and pulling her along. The kappa were knocked aside, distracted by the spirits currently pulling at their ears. Running through the open doorway, they were dashing through the halls hand in hand.

"...Since when...did you know how to-"

"Long story, not important, let's get outta here!"

Orin nipped Sango's question in the bud, looking for the way back to the waste disposal room. For a moment both of them shared the same thought: Why did all of these corridors look the same?

With no idea which way to go, the pair decided to turn right and hope for the best. Another identical corridor met them, with exactly the same twists and turns. Orin briefly wondered if this was all some sort of illusion and they were actually just running down the same corridor over and over.

"Wait! Over there!"

Sango pointed at a door as they ran past it, prompting Orin to come to a stop as quickly as she could. It wasn't the exit, but it was the first door they'd passed with letters on it, clearly spelling out EQUIPMENT ROOM. There didn't seem to be anyone following, so they quickly peeked in to try and find something of use.

"Hey, the tank! Good call, Sango!"

Orin's air supply must have been thrown in here after she was knocked out. It made sense they'd confiscate anything she'd brought with her. She strapped it back around her waist - she was going to need it on the way out - as she grabbed the flashlight which had also been left there.

"Now, there should be a map around here somewhere..."

As Orin ruffled her way through the documents liberally thrown around the room, Sango was looking around for something that could work as a weapon, ignoring the various tazers and stun guns the kappa were keeping around.

"How about...this?"

She pulled out an ornamental trident, its prongs still surprisingly sharp. Orin looked at her unimpressed for a few seconds as she pulled out a blueprint of the facility's layout.

"Uh...you're kidding, right?"

Sango looked at her, puzzled, as if to ask 'what's wrong with it?' Orin could have been there forever explaining, but they didn't have the time for it. The guards could be back on them any minute now.

"Fine, but I hope you know how to use it. Come on!"

They ran back out of the room, now a little more enlightened as to where they had to go. Orin took the lead again, the only one of the pair who actually knew where she was going.

"Okay, left here, right there, then right again and - that's it!"

They could make out a door at the end of the corridor, hanging open as if to beckon them in. Orin picked up the pace, practically hauling Sango behind her.

"Come on! Just a little swim after this and we're home free!"

She whizzed past the door, greeted by the sight of dismantled and destroyed machinery. Sango's rampage wasn't going to fix itself, but from the sound of a clanging wrench echoing through the room someone was taking a damn good shot at it-

"Predictable."

 _CRAP!_

Standing between them and the lake was a familiar looking scientist, casually repairing a nearby terminal. She looked at the fleeing pair with an expression of total calmness.

"Honestly, you must think I'm a moron. Of course I would leave the exit covered. You know a little too much now, I think."

Despite her apparent occupation as a scientist, Orin could feel immense magical power rising from Rikako. She adjusted her glasses again, placing her hands in her coat pockets.

"If you lay down your arms now, I promise to make your deaths relatively painless."

Orin grit her teeth. Behind her back, the fires of the undead were beginning to rise again. She turned to Sango, a severe expression running across her face.

 _"Okay, we need to double-team her right now. We're only gonna get one shot at this, so we need to make it count. Got it?"_

Sango nodded. Her grip on the trident tightened slightly. Again, no luck with Purified Greywater. She wished she had a spellcard that worked a little better in tight spots like this.

"I'll give you until three. One..."

Orin and Sango braced themselves, looking for exactly the right moment to strike. Rikako seemed unaware of their plans, still looking at them as if they were ready to surrender.

"Two-"

 _"NOW!"_

"Fairies, go!"

Orin hurled the flame at Rikako, aiming straight for her face. It was headed straight for her, no way it would miss-

"What the!?"

The flame, still potent, hung in the air inches from Rikako's eyes. She looked at it intently, and slowly the sphere began to shrink, its power waning.

"No way...she's this strong?!"

Sango leapt forward, seeing this as her only chance to get an attack. She stabbed at the scientist with the trident, hoping to at least injure her enough for an opening-

"!?"

Rikako must have seen it in the corner of her eye, because she caught the trident between her fingers without so much as a thought. The orb continued to fade, as Sango looked down at Rikako's hand in awe.

"How...did she..."

"Three."

She suddenly pushed forward, sending the hilt of the trident straight into Sango's stomach. The dolphin was knocked back across the room, winded heavily by the impact. Orin quickly started to channel another orb.

 _"Dammit, why didn't I bring a spellcard!?"_

Obviously Rikako wasn't going to simply let her do whatever she pleased. She pulled out a card and began chanting her own spell.

 _"From the fusion of two, produce overwhelming flames!  
 **Fire Sign [Exothermic Reaction]!"**_

Rikako opened her arms, a pair of spheres emerging at her palms. As they fully formed she brought her hands together, causing the spheres to collide together. They formed a third sphere, from which burst a massive wall of embers.

 _"Not gonna make it...!"_

Orin focused harder on the summoning, but without a card to act as a catalyst it was a slow process. The wall began to cave in on her, leaving no room for escape.

"Oh, shi- AAH!"

The flames enclosed her simultaneously, attacking her body with a tremendous heat. Her hands desperately started fanning the flames, her own attack long forgotten, as she fell on the floor and started to roll around. Eventually the fire died out, but the effort for that alone was enough to leave her exhausted and still reeling from the pain.

"Well, that was even easier than I expected it to be. Then again, what else could I have expected from a pair of _magicians_?"

The word rolled out of her mouth like poison as she walked towards the incapacitated pair.

 _"...We screwed up, didn't we?"_

 _...Yeah. We sure did._

Their hands slowly stretched outwards, and their hands touched.

 _"At least...I have someone else to blame it on."_

Despite the pain she was in, Orin managed to give Sango a smile, squeezing the hand she'd managed to grab. Sango returned the favour, squeezing back.

 _I could say the same thing to you..._

Rikako was unaware of the entire exchange, charging a pair of simple bullets in her palms. In their current state, neither of them had a hope of dodging one, or surviving it.

"You're as good to me dead as you are alive, I suppose. Reiuji won't be aware of it until it's too late. Farewell."

The bullets reached their apex, glowing a bright shade of green. Orin and Sango each stared one down, waiting for the end to come-

"Won't be aware of what?"

The bullets vanished suddenly, as Rikako faced an unexpected development. She spun hastily around to the source of the voice, and was greeted with a control rod in the face.

"Ah-"

"Okuu!"

Utsuho stared her down, a cold hatred in her eyes. Orin and Sango slowly pulled themselves to their feet, enawed by their friend's sudden appearance.

"There isn't much that gets me angry. But let me tell you something-"

With her other hand, Utsuho lifted Rikako effortlessly into the air. The scientist thrashed around, desperately fighting her attacker's grip, but the only thing worse than a nuclear-powered raven was an _angry_ nuclear-powered raven.

"Start threatening my friends, and you're in BIIIIIIG trouble."

Rikako's glasses fell off, shattering on the ground below her. For a moment Orin was afraid that her friend would kill the human there and then from the cold, furious glint in her eyes.

"...Good thing you're not worth my time."

Utsuho threw her into the distant corner of the room, sending her flying into the one machine that Sango hadn't managed to wreck earlier. The impact was enough to at least break a few bones, and Rikako was knocked out instantly. Even when she woke up, with injuries like that she'd be in no fit state to fight.

There was a moment of silence as the injured pair realised that they weren't going to die after all.

"Okuu!!"

Orin stumbled across the room and embraced the raven in gratitude. Almost immediately her rage subsided, and she was back to the simple Utsuho that Sango had come to know.

"Unyu...don't scare me like that, Orin. I was worried I wasn't gonna make it."

Sango, still clutching her chest, walked over and joined in the hug as best she could.

"Thanks, Okuu...but how did you know what was happening?"

"Master Satori was monitoring your hearts carefully. When she lost contact with both of you at once she worried that something was wrong, so she sent me to check things out."

That must have been when they were knocked out, Sango thought to herself. Rin looked away, lost in thought for a moment.

"But wait...Okuu, that was maybe an hour ago. What took you so long?"

"Well, it's a long tunnel, and I never got that whole swimming thing down...Unyuu..."

Orin couldn't help but laugh at that. It was amazing - only a few minutes ago they'd been staring death in the face, and just like that they were laughing it all away.

"...Anyway, let's get back to the surface. Master Satori must be worried sick by now."

She broke off the hug, walking towards the water. The tank had been lucky enough to survive the attack unscathed, and it still did its job at least well enough to get Orin out of here.

"Good idea." She looked towards Sango, grinning wickedly. "We need to get her to turn off this Heart-to-Heart thing, anyway. I'm sick of having you in my head!"

"You can say that again. I'm gonna have to clean my own brain out to make up for everything I've had to hear out of you."

Sango joined her, throwing out a playful insult as they stood at the river's edge together. They shared one last smile together before they dove in unison into the water. Utsuho was the last to leave, smiling for her own reasons.

"Wow. Master Satori was right after all...they really are alike."

\-----

"Masteeeeer!"

Orin almost leapt out of the water when she surfaced at the other side of the tunnel. Satori was waiting for her, and embraced her the instant she could. She didn't need to be told what had happened - reading Orin's heart told her everything she needed to know.

"Orin, I'm so sorry. I should have looked ahead and warned you I sensed other hearts down there..."

Orin ignored her master's apology,returning the hug with twice the force.

"It's okay. I'm fine, Sango fine, so there's nothing to worry about."

Satori was silent for a moment, simply relieved that her pet had returned to her. Sango surfaced afterwards, witnessing the reunion from a distance.

 _"Well, of course they're close. They must've known each other for years by now._ "

Orin stood straight as Sango's thoughts inadvertently made their way into her head, her tails sticking out. Satori sighed.

"Well, from what I can read from your heart, my card has done what it needed to."

She clicked her fingers, and the white wire from before re-emerged, still linking Orin and Sango. It snapped in the middle before fading, and the link between the two was broken.

"Finally!" Sango said, lifting her hands up into the air. "You have no idea how **hard** those last few seconds in the lake were - seriously, nothing but _'Maybe she won't mind if I eat this'_ and _'I might be able to snatch this one without her seeing me'_."

It was a joke this time around. Orin hadn't been thinking anything along those lines - everything she'd been through served to distract her from her hunger. Now that Sango had mentioned it, though, it had returned with a vengeance.

"Aw, come on...I still haven't eaten anything all day...nyaa..."

For a moment, their eyes locked. They grinned at each other, sharing a silent congratulations.

"Well, you two had better get around to giving that kappa her inventions back. I'll wait for Okuu here - it'd be sad if no-one was around to greet her when she surfaced."

Satori smiled as she broke off the hug with Orin. She shooed them away in the direction of Nitori's hut, nodding along as they left. There was something wise in her smile, Orin thought to herself, something well beyond her age. She wondered if there was something more to this, something she was meant to do-

"Hey, quit looking at the lake, already," Sango muttered as she pulled Orin along. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to eat anyone."

"But I don't remember agreeing to anything..."

\---

"What?! THE Rikako Asakura!?"

Orin was busy figuring out how to unstrap the tank as she told the story. Nitori listened in, hooked on every word.

"Yeah," Orin continued. "Hired a bunch of kappa to try and make nuclear power...wanted to kidnap Okuu and to some nasty stuff to her. ...Nyaa, how do you work this thing!?"

Nitori nonchalantly pulled at one end of the strap as she held a button down. It loosened immediately, falling to Orin's feet. She looked down at it, embarrassed.

"Oh, uh, that's how. Thanks."

The kappa nodded in reply, picking up the tank from the floor. Sango sat on a chair next to Orin, doing her best to stay out of the conversation.

"We know about Rikako - to the kappa, she's practically a terrorist," Nitori said, her solemn tone showing it was no exaggeration. "The officials have been trying to take care of her for months now. There's even a nice juicy reward for whoever turns her in..."

On the last sentence Nitori turned away, her eyes glazing over. She was frowning, and hiding it poorly. Meanwhile, next to Orin, Sango was starting to get very interested in the conversation.

"A reward? That's awesome! So who do I have to tell that I beat the big bad-"

"You can have it," Orin butted in, cutting Sango short as she looked at Nitori. "Just go and tell them you did it."

Two heads turned to Orin at once, wearing identical expressions of shock.

"You need the money more than either of us, right? It's only fair." Orin shrugged, seeing no reason why her logic wasn't totally natural. "And it was your inventions that got us in there in the first place."

Nitori's eyes misted up, and already Orin knew this gift meant more to the kappa than it ever would have meant to her. This was the difference between eating tonight and going hungry for her, and Orin had just given her a golden meal ticket

"I...I...T-Thank you..."

Sango's expression of awe remained unchanged, her mouth hanging wide open. It wasn't the money she'd been worried about - Orin could tell that the dolphin didn't care about wealth. It was the fame that she'd been looking for. Orin made a quick exit - she wasn't going to have this conversation with Nitori watching.

"H-Hey!"

Sango burst out of the door to meet her, anger running across her face.

"Why'd you do that!? That was my big chance!"

Orin turned around to see her, sighing. There was no away around this, was there?

"You don't need the money, do you?"

"No, but that's not - I could've finally made a name for myself, finally earned a reputation from something like this!"

Sango's face was bright red, almost as angry as she'd been when she'd pulverised the machines back at the lab. She seemed on the verge of punching Orin in the face, but the kasha didn't move away.

"Reputation? What's the point in that?"

Orin strolled back down to the lake, trying to get the point across by not giving the conversation that much attention. The dolphin followed behind, stomping around as her rage built up.

"What's the point in it!? What's the point in doing a job if no-one cares about it!? I work my ass off keeping this place clean, and no-one gives a damn! How do you think that feels!?"

She hadn't meant to say that. Instantly the rage faded from Sango's face, and she put a hand over her mouth as if to take it back. Orin sighed, realising this was a deeper problem than she'd anticipated. This girl needed some help, and she was just the kasha to deliver it.

"What's wrong with just being proud of a job well done?"

Her response was still calm, like she was answering a casual question. Sango's rage was quickly being spent as she realised she'd overexposed herself.

"How can you say that!? You don't even know what it feels like!"

She was distraught now, almost screaming. She was getting teary, and quickly regretting it. Any style or charisma she'd had beforehand had fallen apart now, and she made to turn away and run for the hills.

Orin put a hand on her shoulder to stop her in place.

"I never told you how I got into necromancy, did I?"

Sango turned around, tears still in her eyes. Slowly, she shook her head. Orin sighed, closing her eyes for a few moments. When she opened them, the casual cheer had been put aside for a moment. She wasn't serious often, but this called for it more than most incidents.

"...It happened a few months ago. You saw the sort of crazy things Okuu can do with nuclear power, right? Well when she first got that power she went a little...crazy. As in 'take over all of Gensokyo' crazy.  
Master Satori had no idea of what was happening, and neither did anyone else for that matter. I was the only one who had a clue what was going on, and if I didn't do something the whole place was gonna get burned to the ground. Following me?"

Sango nodded. She probably had a good idea where this was going, but Orin continued anyway.

"I couldn't tell Master Satori - she'd panic, try and solve everything herself and get incinerated. There was no-one underground strong enough to take her on, either, so I had to get the message above ground without her noticing. That's when I began looking into the dark arts, and started sending spirits up to the surface.  
It worked - some miko and her black witch friend came down and beat Okuu senseless. But what matters is that if it hadn't been for me, she'd have achieved her goal and this whole place would be the new Blazing Hell. I did it. I saved Gensokyo."

Sango's eyes couldn't get any wider. There was amazement, even respect in her expression, but she still seemed puzzled as to how the pieces came together.

"Did anyone give me credit for it? No. It was all Raymoo or whatever her name is, the miko who saved the day. But I don't honestly care about that - I know I did it, and that's good enough for me."

She wrapped her arms around Sango, who hadn't moved an inch since she'd started to talk.

"I know you're a good person deep down, so I want you to listen to me when I say this. Do your thing because you're proud of it, whatever the hell everyone else says."

Sango stood in place for a moment, but slowly she wrapped her own arms around Orin as well. The words came to her slowly, inbetween her sobbing.

"I...I didn't know...I'm so sorry..."

"Besides, get a reputation and people will start makin' you do stuff you don't wanna do. Which sucks, right?"

Orin flipped back to her normal, happy-go-lucky self, the gravity of her earlier tone completely forgotten. She broke off the hug, skipping ahead.

"W...Where are you going?"

"Back to the lake, obviously. Don't want to keep Master Satori waiting any longer than I have to!"

She strolled on ahead to the lakeside, smiling to herself as she went. Sango hung behind a little, and Orin lost sight of her as she made her way back to her master.

She'd get by, Orin thought to herself. She was strong enough for that.  
\---

"Well, I think it's about time we made our exit."

The three had changed back into their normal clothing as they prepared to leave. Sango pouted.

"Really? Come on, you guys can't have anything else you need to do..."

"Don't worry, we'll visit," Orin said with a smile. "It's not like we're leaving forever, y'know."

Sango returned the favour. The words from the riverside were still playing in her head - strange, yet powerful. She felt stronger the more she thought about them, and the more she let them inside her.

"S-Sure. You're welcome anytime here. Feel free to drop by whenever you feel like it!"

This farewell was different from the one she'd given to Satori before. Back then it had been Satori who had learned from Sango; now she felt she had learned something from Orin, there was a feeling of gratitude that she couldn't put into words. She waved at the trio as they started the long trek back home.

"...Well, then. I'd better start getting to work."

Sango jumped back into the lake as soon as they were out of sight, flying through the water like always. She had to keep this place in working order, or she'd never be able to look them in the eye again.

 _And what can I say? I do a pretty good job of it._

She smiled, taking a joy in her work she wished she'd noticed a long time ago. These waters were going to stay pure for a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was pretty much the first full-length story I ever wrote for the Touhou fandom. I'm willing to admit it's pretty rough around the edges - and this is after I fixed up some of the more blatant holes in logic and plot.
> 
> Sango, as a character, I've grown somewhat attached to. I made her more or less by accident. The original story just involved Satori swimming with dolphins, but it became more convenient to give Sango a character, and before I knew it I was creating my first OC.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for bearing with me all this time. Hope you managed to wring some enjoyment out of this old shame of mine. OTL


End file.
